The Biggest Loser spent its week following its last airing dealing with the news of a revolt by its cast. In the wake of the controversy, it's believed that two contestants walked off the show and were not asked to return. There's additional discussion that they might incorporate the walk-out into the show, to which I wonder how they possibly couldn't considering they would inexplicably lose two players late in the game. It's unlikely that any of this will factor into tonight's episode, but you never know. Let's see, shall we?

Big Losers Head Home

We begin in the wake of Daphne's elimination last week where Allison tells both teams that they'll be going home for 18 days to see if they're capable of maintaining their progress on their own. There will be a challenge for them to focus on though. If a contestant loses five percent of their body fat then they'll have individual immunity for the next elimination. There's also the preposterous addition that if everyone hits that goal, then there will be no elimination when they return.

And as quickly as Allison can get the words out, they're back in their hometowns filming montages of their emotional returns while an atrocious modern rock song caterwauls in the background. (Not to be confused with Chism's band, My Side of the Story, which has conquered the key demographic of Ultimate Frisbee nerds in Magnolia, Texas.)

The homecoming angle gives a slight glimpse at the pairings everybody entered the game with, which is interesting since they were so quickly abandoned at the start of the game. For instance, who remembered that Emily and Kim the Wrestler were in the game together? When they get home, they're told to row 10,000 meters in front of their friends and family, with the winner receiving $10,000 as a reward. The spectators do all they can to cheer on their loved one, but Roy takes an oddly different approach to rooting on his wife - eating a big plate of food right in her face. I guess it pays to be free of the watchful eye of Dolvett.

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

We spend an agonizingly long time seeing the contestants doing various activities at home, few of which actually include any exercise. But, it is effective in highlighting some effective emotionality, particularly Megan's reunion with her horse. Most of them are all pretty forgettable and it's a relief to see Bob and Dolvett putting them through their paces when they return to the ranch. Kim seems reticent to realize that she's not home anymore and looks disconnected. It's a problem that isn't likely to be helped by her learning that she lost $10,000 to Chism as part of the rowing challenge.

Sizing Up Their Progress

Buddy reaches the 100 pounds lost milestone and details why that has particular significance to him in relation to his deceased daughter. He starts a wave of red team members that hit their goal that ends with Mark. The pious youth minister commemorates his downfall by letting out an expletive on the scale. The black team goes on a similar run that only ends when Chism steps on the scale and comes up a pound short of winning the challenge. Because of the individual immunity stipulation, Chism is the only one eligible for getting sent home and is thus sent packing.

Mark makes an impassioned plea to fall on the sword for his son citing that it isn't fair. Chism winds up taking on the role of the level-headed voice of reason to his dad pleading that he just be allowed to go home. The clips of next week's episode seem to illustrate that it will address the revolt. That's something of a relief because if tonight's little rift with Mark was the genesis of those stories, it would have been quite a let-down.
Now if you'll excuse me, I have some Multi-Grain Peanut Butter Cheerios to try out; I hear great things.